They realised they are our electorate. They realised there is a local election on 7 June and that there may be a general election after the budget or at some time within the next 12 months. They have woken up and realised they have the power in their hands to vote us into or out of office. That is important and that is what has brought on the change. I took the time to look at the record of engagement, votes and amendments in Dáil Éireann. We are a revising Chamber. Let us be honest: up to last week, we did not hav…

The Minister has the seal of office and is the Minister for Justice. I respect what she has to do. Needless to say, she did not find she could support the amendment. I fully respect that but I have a job to do like she does. I have an electorate like she does. I gave a commitment to my electorate, which is the sitting county councillors, Independents and party. I am glad to say I have support across structured parties too. I said I would make a strong case. That is all I can do. The Opposition is very small, throug…

While we are on section 114, I received this correspondence: [I am] aware that the Government Senators are under immense pressure today to finalise the remaining stages of the bill and may be under a government whip to do so. In this event, as part of your debate[...] could you suggest the following points to the Minister for her agreement. I might not be fully in agreement but I gave a commitment I would convey this; therefore, I am doing it. The person will be listening in and will hear me and will be able to say…

I thank the Minister for setting out her responses to the grouping of amendments. It is clear she is not accepting any of them. It looks like she will not be accepting any amendments other than those she has tabled. Does she call that democracy? Maybe she does. It is lovely to see her smiling. At the end of the day, it is her prerogative. I have always respected that. However, we put forward a strong and robust case based on what we have been asked to do by the representative bodies. I will not get into argy-bargy …

The Senator cannot speak for me. I will come back in.

The Senator got an impression about the Tánaiste and later corrected it because he put pressure on.

Ho, ho.

I thank the Leader for clarifying the issue in relation to the Tánaiste and the Irish Independent . I look forward to looking at that piece in the Irish Independent and would be grateful if she could send it on to me. I believe in protecting the role of different Ministers and would not think that the Tánaiste would want to, in any way, undermine that. The Leader then went on to talk about success and she referenced amendment No. 84, which is a Government amendment. This is the tripartite Government that I talked a…

Sorry, I am speaking.

No, I will not, particularly in light of Senator Ward's contribution. I will not.

I just wanted to make that point. Other Senators can come in and I will listen to them. Let us be clear. All this is saying is that a councillor or any member of the committee can go for the position of chair and that is it. There is nothing more here. There is no magic. There were no great negotiations or peace deals done over the Christmas period. It is simple, plain and clear that any councillor can put himself or herself forward. The outcome will depend on the numbers and the permutations, and there is no guara…

I move amendment No. 75: In page 105, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following: “(I) city and county councillors, an equal number of whom shall be appointed to safety partnerships as were elected to the joint policing committee established by the Garda Síochána Act 2005,”.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien. I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter. It relates to the community recognition fund, to which €50 million has been given. At first glance, it seems to be covering a lot of areas that should be covered in any case because they are not solely and exclusively to do with community integration. Allocations include €50,000 and €60,000 to private rugby clubs across the State and a whole range of other projects. I am delighted that funding is being given to…

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response. He indicated that more than 880 projects have been approved for funding, 185 have been completed and €11.5 million has been partly drawn down from the fund. I presume the full €50 million will be spent given that it has been ring-fenced and earmarked. Based on the Minister of State's response, there is a hell of a lot of money in the pot. If it is not to be drawn down, I suggest we go back to the local authorities and see what is the reality of drawing down t…

I want to say how pleased I am and how much I welcome the news that the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, is this morning updating her Government colleagues on the implementation of the landmark Louise O'Keeffe judgment. What a brave and courageous woman she was against all the odds in terms of how she had to go public time and time again about her abuse. I commend Norma Foley on her work on this and, from that, as she herself said, the learning. We can have all these tribunals of inquiry and judgments, but the …

What can I say? Farewell, my friend. I will start by saying I was greatly honoured that Senator Norris nominated me to contest the Seanad elections - as did former Senator Feargal Quinn and former Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan. They were all Independents of great stature. It might sound facetious and arrogant but I chose my own nominators. I was delighted that each of those of such high calibre, in particular Senator Norris, should nominate me to contest these elections as an Independent. You were a strong Independent …

I formally second my colleague Senator McDowell's amendment to the Order of Business. I want to raise issues relating to the Committee Stage of the policing Bill yesterday. I left the Oireachtas at 11.15 p.m. last night. I just checked into my office before I left to see an email that withdrew the motion due to go before the House regarding how we would reconvene. The Deputy Leader should be aware and certainly the Seanad office will be aware that our group had submitted an amendment proposing coming back on Tuesda…

I am happy to stay here until 3 o'clock. I am happy to oppose the proposal and I am up for it. I just want to flag that to the Deputy Leader.

We are not here any other day.

At the outset, I want to congratulate the new president and vice-president of the IFA. County Laois suckler beef and sheep farmer, Francie Gorman, was elected the new president yesterday evening. Also, Alice Doyle who is from Wexford, was elected deputy president. Alice Doyle is the first woman ever to hold the office of deputy president of the IFA. I wish both of them well as they start on a huge year. Agri-politics is a significant and very fragmented place, as we know in these Houses. There is a lot going on as …